Christmas post!!! Only a month late :)

As promised (even if it is a month later) here are pictures of our Christmas extravaganza. An extravaganza is exactly what it was... (caution -- this may totally bore you!)

We decided to spend Christmas in Utah with Aaron's family. We planned on leaving the Monday before Christmas, but as some of you may remember, huge storms were all over Utah and California (Tahoe area). We were feeling reluctant about driving right through a storm and were going to cancel the trip. But me, not wanting to flake out on everyone, convinced Aaron that it would be no big deal and if we had to chain up (by the way, we drive a van that is NOT all wheel, so chains are required) I would help him put them on. So we headed up about 1pm.

What do you think was waiting for us in Tahoe? You guessed it! First a crap load of traffic, then a crap load of snow! We were completely behind schedule with the crazy traffic and were forced to chain up at the beginning of Donnor Pass. Traffic was moving about 5-10 miles an hour, which was fine because one of our chains fell off... twice... and we had to pull over and fix it. Notice how I say "WE", really it was Aaron. There was nothing I could do. Well, actually, I lie, I held the flash light, because it was totally dark outside... and freezing.

We finally made it to Reno (hours later) with Aaron totally mad at me for convincing him that this was a good idea. It took hours to get over Donnor and we knew that there were at least 4 or 5 more spots going through Nevada that would require us to put chains on again. And according to the weather reports, the storm was supposed to be getting worse, not better. I really didn't think Aaron could get any angrier at me, but when we pulled up to McDonalds, we found ourselves with a flat tire! We ended up shredding the tire, needing a brand new one. Of course everything was closed and it was official... we were going to have to stay the night in Reno and fix the tire the next day. Aaron had had it! He made up his mind that the trip was cancelled and when we got the tire fixed, we were heading back home. No more Christmas in Utah.

We ended up staying at a pretty decent Hotel for only $50 bucks (The Silver Legacy, check it out if you ever need to stay somewhere nice and cheap right downtown). So while we lucked out on finding a decent Hotel, we got totally ripped off buying our tire. Seriously. They raked us. It was criminal! And by the way, we didn't have any pack-n-plays so Mikko slept in bed with us for the first time and I seriously don't know how you people do it. I hardly slept at all. It was a nightmare. But Aaron felt much better after waking up (if that's what you call it, he barely spelt too) and decided that we would just make the trek to Utah and just vow to NEVER DO IT AGAIN!

So we were prepared to make several stops to put on chains, muddling through the stormy weather and wouldn't you know it? We flew right through Nevada and didn't hit one storm or flurry. It was crystal clear with no snow on the roads.

We spent a wonderful Christmas with the Lehikoinens. It was really fun waking up to a literally white Christmas Day. I mean really... we couldn't believe all the snow! The cars were completely snowed in. It was crazy, but fun. Well, Mikko and AJ didn't like it. They can be such wussies. AJ totally freaked out when I tried to take him out. Oh well, I'm sure one day he'll like it. But we got great gifts, had a great breakfast, a fun snowball fight, a yummy dinner, a girls Christmas movie night of Twilight, and unforgettable memories.

We came home and did a mini post-Christmas celebration with the Schwitters (Barry and Lauren included) and had a fun time hanging out with them. Hopefully next year will be a little more "drama free", but I guarantee this will be one Christmas, we'll NEVER forget.

*PS- The way home was crystal clear also

**PSS- Mikko is FINALLY crawling!!

The Boys & Santa Clause

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day

Post-Christmas Celebration with the Schwitters

A little of our week

This last week has gone by fast. I know, I still haven't gotten around to those Christmas pictures yet (its because I have to download, edit, resize, etc...) it feels like such a process. For Christmas Aaron and I decided to buy a little snap shot camera that we can just take with us everywhere. Its easier than lugging my big fancy one around. So we did take a few pictures this week, they are nothing special, but here they are nonetheless.

We did do some fun things this week. First, we finally broke out our Settlers game (that we haven't played since Sept. 2007). It was so fun! We played two nights in a row! Of course I lost both times, but I don't mind. Just getting my feet wet again!

Mikko is SOOOOOO close to crawling! He gets on all fours and moves his legs, but he wont move his arms... He will sit there and scream like he is frustrated he hasn't figured it out. I try to help him, but I think I make it worse. Oh well... I'm sure any day now it will "click" in his little brain and he will just take off!

Lately I have been trying to make more of an effort to get AJ out, playing with other kids. I took him to the park last Friday (our ward does a play group at the park each week) and he just stood in like one place the entire time. He just stared at all the other kids playing and having fun. It was sort of creepy at first. It was like he didn't want to touch any of the equipment or kids... so weird! I think I need to get him out more. He is too use to just playing by himself at home. So we're going to work on that! I don't want to have the creepy socially inept kid.

We also hosted a youth fireside at our house Sunday night. I stayed upstairs with the boys so they wouldn't be a distraction, but they had a great turn out and Aaron gave me all the details (of course I went downstairs to visit as soon as it was over). I just have to brag about my hubby for a second. I am SOOO proud of him. For some reason he feels so "out of his comfort zone" in his (Young Men's President) calling. But I think he is doing so amazing! He loves the youth so much and has so much passion for the gospel, I just love seeing it! The leaders challenged the kids to a few goals as a ward, and when everyone left, Aaron sat down with me and explained that we as a couple needed to strive for these goals individually, just like the youth. He said he thinks it is important to lead by example. The three goals were, read the scriptures for 5 minutes daily, pray day and night, and smile! As a family, we do pretty well with the prayers and scripture reading. But Aaron and I have fallen short on reading our scriptures individually. I think this will be a great thing for me and my testimony... I started yesterday! Of course, I think I can do a little better than 5 minutes a day. We raised the bar to 30 minutes of scripture study a day, instead of just 5. And I can especially work on the whole "smile" thing. But Aaron inspires me to be better. I just love him and am so grateful I have such a wonderful, worthy priesthood holder as my husband. I couldn't ask for more!

Today was a special day as many of you know (and if you don't, you've been living under a rock). To me it was special because I got to witness one of the great things about our country- a peaceful transfer of power. I was a teenager when Clinton left and Bush came in, so I didn't pay any attention to the transformation. I just thought it was very moving. Despite what anyone may think of President Bush, I was a little emotional when I watched him. I can see a good man, that cares about the country as a whole and Americans as individuals. I also loved seeing President Obama with his family. The kids looked a little nervous, but so cute! And seeing Pres Obama with Michelle, speaks volumes of his character. I know it was an exciting mark for history, having the first black President. I think younger generations (I include myself in this) seem to be more colorblind and a little oblivious to the (Farley recent persecutions) that occurred just a few decades ago. I know we shouldn't forget the past, but I think it is a little okay to step forward, and not back. It doesn't make a difference to me what color the president is. When I look at Pres Obama, I don't think "he's a black president". I think "he is our president". I wouldn't think twice if it was a woman, a Hispanic, Asian, Mormon, Catholic, or Muslim. So while we celebrate today, I hope we continue to move forward. It shouldn't really matter WHAT you are, but WHO you are. I think Pres Obama has a tough road ahead of him, but I support him as my President and will pray for him to make the best decisions for our country. I do think we need some change. I hope he can bring the kind that makes us a BETTER, STRONGER nation.

Post-Christmas all-stress disorder

I am so pooped. I just spent all day taking down my Christmas decorations, and man am I worn out!! It makes me wonder if it is worth it to put them all up... (I know it is... I forget all about it by the time Christmas rolls around again).
It took me an hour alone to vacuum up the pine needles (fake ones) from the stairs, and I have little cuts all over my hands from stringing out the pokey greenery from our stair-railings. I also have now found that I do not have enough home decor to fill this obnoxiously large house we now live in. Since we moved in during Halloween, I immediately put up Halloween decorations, then just replaced those with Christmas decorations. Now I have HUGE holes everywhere! My house looks so... empty. Its really sad.
Anyway, I also have a list of things that need to be returned. I am SO BAD at returning things. Usually The Boss just does it for me. But scrap booking supplies.... I'm going to have to take care of that one. I have pictures I still need to download from my camera, wrapping paper and boxes in my bedroom, Christmas candy tempting me, and kids that are still sick from BEFORE Christmas.
I just feel like everything is... well... everywhere. Things are not back to normal yet and I can't wait until they are. Is there a drug one can take for this post-Christmas all-stress disorder? And don't say chocolate... that's another contributor of my disorder.

(Sorry for no pictures. It is so low on my priority list. But I'm sure I'll get to it eventually...)

Shower Powder

So I have been SOOOOO lazy. I still haven't downloaded pictures from Christmas. That's why I haven't posted. Its on my list of things to do this week. But I make no promises. I've missed all you!!! Hope your holidays were well. Our holiday was... interesting. It'll all be in the Christmas post. ... Something to look forward to (I promise no profanity this time).

Today something happened. It was... a little sad. I ran out of baby powder. Silly, I know. But, the thing is, I have not had to buy baby powder yet. At all. Thanks to all my friends and family, I got enough baby powder from my AJ baby shower (AJ will be 2 in March and I didn't have a shower for Mikko) that I have not had to buy any. My shower powder supply has lasted me almost 2 years with AJ and 1 year with Mikko. They both get a bath every night, at which time powder is "puffed" onto the bum. When there are rashes or large poops, I usually powder them fresh also. That is a lot of freaking shower powder. I calculated that I have probably done somewhere around 1,500 "puffs" of powder on a bum with my shower powder. But today... my shower powder ran out. I will now have to go out and actually buy some baby powder. Some non-shower powder. However, my friends and family are so wonderful that I still have NOT run out of baby lotion or baby shampoo. My shower supply is still stalked! While I love my shower powder, shampoo, and lotions, why can't I have this same problem with diapers? We just spent $150 on diapers and formula for the month... ouch! Do you know how much shower powder, lotion, and shampoo I could buy with $150? It would last a heck of a lot longer than one month. A girl can dream... for now... to Target I go for my non-shower powder.

As good as it gets... right?

Christmas photos this year were a FREAKING nightmare. Next year I just need to pony-up and spend the BIG BUCKS to get it professionally done. I felt like it was impossible to get my kids to take a decent picture. If one wasn't looking the other was, and vice-versa. For some reason, I felt like my kids instantly wanted to tick-me-off trying to get a decent picture of all of us. As soon as the camera came out, so did tears, naughtiness, and squirming. Can't I catch a break?!! The one we finally picked was...okay. We had to give AJ a sucker just to get him to stop screaming. In case you have had similar problems, I have so graciously posted part of our nightmare. Perhaps this will not make you feel so bad:

(Ha ha ha, so funny AJ. Mikko looks like he is constipated.)

(Yeah, I love the drool all over your shirt... classy)

(The only one who looks good in this picture is Aaron. But he always looks good. Mikko has a scary evil-looking smile on his face and of course AJ is trying to get down off the bench.)

(Seriously AJ... you can't just look at the camera? Come on man! Mikko is trying to stand on my lap.)

(I am yelling at my mom to just keep taking pictures... we are bound to get ONE good one out of 50 shots. Maybe. This one is just all-around bad. But this was what most of the shots looked like.)

Following are the ones we narrowed it down to:

And the winner is.......

This is as good as it gets folks. At least I got them out... right?

Santa's little helper?

Santa and I are not very good at hiding things. Apparently I have underestimated my child. I thought the closet would be a sufficient place to hide Santa's gift. I was wrong. I went downstairs and found this:

Oops! He found it! I thought it was so cute I just couldn't bare stealing it from him right away. He kept getting his leg stuck in the box trying to ride it. Eventually he gave up on that and decided to put some stuffed bears on it and PUSH/SLIDE it around the family room. Am I horrible that I let him play with it? When I did take it away, it was so sad. He only cried for a minute, but at least I know he'll like it. Lucky for me, I'm sure he'll forget all about it by Christmas and he will be just as excited to play with it.

Busy Christmas Season

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It has been SO BUSY this month!! We will be traveling for Christmas so I feel like I am on an extra short time table. We had our ward Christmas party last weekend and the boys got to sit on Santa's lap. Seriously... my kids don't have a clue. AJ was scared out of his mind (which I'm sure is typical of children his age, and Mikko just wanted to chew on everything). This picture was the best we could do. But at least we have one. I don't have a Santa picture of AJ his first Christmas (bad mom). But I've got one this year!!!

We thought it would be fun for AJ to take a little ride in a race car at the mall arcade. I was wrong. He screamed. But Mikko LOVED it! It was so cute. He was like a wild man trying to touch all the buttons and turn the steering wheel. My boys definitely have two completely different personalities. Mikko is MUCH MORE aggressive. And AJ is MUCH MORE passive. In other words- AJ is more of a boob, and Mikko is more a crazy man. I love them both and embrace how different their personalities are.